Big calls needed in cricket clashes

Some inspired captaincy should be required to provide an outright win in either of the two Bidwell Cup senior men's inter-club cricket matches which draw to a close in Wairarapa tomorrow.
For any of the four teams involved to pick up maximum points the prospects are that bold declarations will have to be made and with grand final spots still up for grabs it will be interesting to see what transpires in that respect.
A remarkable 434 runs were scored on the first day of the Lansdowne v Wairarapa College game at Wairarapa College last Saturday with the students a massive 244 runs in arrears of Lansdowne's first innings total of 339 when stumps were drawn but with nine first innings wickets still intact.
As befits a team which generally likes to get on with the game Wairarapa College will very probably look to declare their first innings closed not long after they have bettered the follow on mark, thereby placing the pressure back on Lansdowne to score enough runs in quick time in their second innings to set up an exciting finish.
Resuming on 50 for Wairarapa College will be Central Districts A opener Sam Curtis and his wicket will be a prized scalp for Lansdowne for he has the ability to find the boundary on a regular basis. An hour of Curtis at the crease and the whole dynamics of the game could change.
Rathkeale Cricket Academy elected to spend the whole day batting against Red Star last weekend, reaching 281-7 in a rather pedestrian performance which suggested they might be only interested in first innings points from this particular game.
Whether that is the case will be known when play resumes tomorrow for if Academy take up more batting time then Red Star will probably have little alternative but to adopt similarly conservative tactics as well.
On the other hand, however, if Academy send Stars into bat from the word go the latter might think differently. The temptation to go all out for the outright win would then be a definite consideration, something which would necessitate them scoring quickly enough in their first innings to have Academy back at the crease by mid-afternoon at the very latest.